Governments

This is a classic. Every serious historian of African Americans needs to have this book. I am a descendant of these people and much of what is in the book confirmed what I have been told since I was a boy. Thanks to those tireless warriors who coompleted this work for without them, it would have remained hidden away.

This account of a people dedicated to freedom is a must read.

As a descendant of Florida's Apalachicola Indians removed to Texas in 1834, I know the Black Seminole as my kin. Porter's narrative parallels our oral tradition and enhances it with photos and maps. Facts presented are well researched and documented with scholarly precision. Historic accuracy is near flawless. Language of the text is readable and the style captivating. No dry history here! Porter brings this forgotten segment of Florida's mixed blood Seminoles to life in seventeen easy chapters. Like a piece of tender, seasoned vinson, it leaves the reader filled but wanting more. No worse injustice could be done to Professor Porter that compare The Black Seminoles to another text. The power of the Porter pen has no peer. Without reservation, Porter's text is a unique gift to all of us. sixwomen@nettally.com

Tony offers realistic remedies in which individuals can directly participate. We must understand that the government is interfering with every aspect of our lives! Soon we will have absolutely no freedoms, making us prisoners in our own country! Tony provides real solutions! A must addition to anyones library!

Tony Lamia is brilliant in his ability to actually understand America's constitution, what it was intended to do, and what has happened to it and therefore our freedoms. Acknowledging that American's enjoy the best system in history, Tony goes on to show how our liberties are being destroyed. The stories in the book are examples of these. Then remedies! The comprehensive nature of this book is amazing.

No punches pulled - this is the story of the men behind the men, and how badly they all performed. A very enjoyable read, entertaining, and informative. Short chapters make it (and I say this reluctantly because it's such a good book) a great bathroom reader. HIGHLY recommended.

Bland Ambition is an uproariously funny, highly irreverent look at the Vice-Presidents of the United States. The author covers every man who has ever served as "Veep" (ending with Dan Quayle), exposing every foible and gaff. I would not recommend this work as a textbook, but it does make an interesting introduction to the men who are completely invisible in most history books.

What if you are a boy growing up with your dad doing illegal gambling, and working with the mob. well in the book Blood Oath by George Fresolone. George goes through the book and explains to you how his life in the mob started out and how he became one of the mob families gambling buddy. He explains to you who he worked for and what he did for his boss. George gives us great detail in how the mob was formed and how it was ran. My opinion I believe you should definately buy Blood Oath, because it's a book you could read moer than once. You can certainly expect alot of info about what they did, and why they did it. Also he explains to you how he actually came around in helping the law. The author likes to give his info in large paragraphs to give more detail to everything.

This is the best mob strory i ever read, it took a great deal of courage for George Fresolone to do what he did, i hope some day to see this story on the big screen..............

Stuart E. Prall's "The Bloodless Revolution" is an extensive and non-biased study of the seminal constitutional developments in 17th century England; which defined the constitutional monarchy in Britain in the age when absolutism reigned supreme elsewhere in the world. Author prepares the scene for the revolution by explaining relationship between king and the Parliament throughout Stuart dynasty starting from James I, thought Long Parliament, Civil War, Protectorate, Restoration, last years of Charles II, and the many encroachment on liberties and mistakes of James II which ultimately led to Glorious Revolution.

Emphasis is on developments in the legal system and relationship between multiple religious institutions and political parties during and after the Restoration period.

One extended quote from the book might give you a flavor of the level of scholarship and insights this book will offer.

"The medieval and Tudor view of the dispensing power was premised on the distinction between malum prohibitum (a prohibited evil) and malum per se (an evil in itself). The distinction was essentially medieval, and the foundation was divine law and/or natural law. Restrictions considered man-made (malum prohibitum) could be dispensed with. Restrictions that were thought to have been authored by God or Nature (malum per se) were not to be dispensed with. These distinctions permeated both the secular and the ecclesiastical structures of the medieval worlds. The Tudor era, especially after the English Reformation, saw the gradual secularization of the political and legal thought and the gradual erosion of the distinction , because the whole conception of divine and natural law was one of the victims of the new age of science and its concomitant mechanical laws of nature, which were coming to the fore in the seventeenth century. One result of the pre-1640 struggle for sovereignty and the constitutional struggle of the Puritan Revolution itself has bee the triumph of the principle that sovereign power was identical with the lawmaking, or legislative, power. Neither the Long Parliament or Protectorate felt any divine or natural limitation upon their ultimate freedom to exercise total legislative authority. The lesson of the Restoration had been that the supreme or sovereign legislative authority did exist in the English state, and that it existed in the triple-headed institution of the King-in-Parliament. The problem was very complex. Because if the king-in-Parliament can make or unmake any and all laws, then there is no longer any practical distinction between the malum prohibitum and malum per se. All laws are merely malum prohibitum. The state is supreme, not God or Nature. The result is that the king could now feel free, at least in theory, to dispense with any law, while those who might oppose his particular use of this power ... would be thrown back upon the old medieval distinction between the human and the divine. English constitutional development was to be unique in seventeen-century Europe in that these same intellectual tendencies on the Continent were indeed leading to just this justification for royal absolutism, while in England the struggle for power between the king and Parliament would continue unabated ..."

This is a stupendous book. It reveals the Glorious Revolution in its entirety. From the Restoration to the Act of Settlement, nothing is overlooked. In addition, the book is written without any of the historical or idealogical predispositions which have long plagued previous studies of this seminal revolution.

Now in a newly updated and expanded 8th edition, The Book Of U.S. Government Jobs: Where They Are, What's Available, & How To Get One by governmental employment resources expert Dennis V. Damp is a thorough, comprehensive, reliable reference for anyone considering a possible career in governmental public service. Individual chapters address the basics of governmental employment, and the processes of being interviewed and taking civil service exams, as well as jobs specifically for military veterans, overseas employment, the U.S. Postal service, law enforcement jobs and much more. An exhaustive reference with appendixes of contact lists for federal agencies, a straightforward checklist for job hunters, and much more, The Book Of U.S. Government Jobs is an essential, core guide suitable for government job seekers of all backgrounds and recommended for school guidance office, community job-center, and public library reference collections.

Finally, someone has written a book on government jobs that is not only up-to-date but easy to follow and understand. One of the best career guides I've read. I found all of the information I needed to locate, find and apply for government jobs. The Chapter on Completing Your Application was especially helpful. It shows you step-by-step how to complete your application or resume and it provides an actual job announcement and a well constructed sample application to guide you through the sometimes complex application process. The author also provides an easy-to-follow Job Hunters Checklist that walks you through your federal job search. Loaded with resources such as agency addresses, helpful web sites, and job hotlines and it covers special hiring programs including student hiring, overseas jobs, jobs for people with disabilities and much more. Well worth the purchase and I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a government job.

Most people's concept of William Meagher "Boss" Tweed, if any, is that of a manipulative mastermind who understood how to best bilk New Yorkers out of tens of millions of dollars, only to be brought down by a resentful member of his "ring" and the brilliant political cartoons of Thomas Nast. Seymour Mandelbaum's study, BOSS TWEED'S NEW YORK, reveals that this is a gross minimalization of the facts.

As the title suggests, it was New York's political and economic machinery of the times that made it easy for anyone to loot the public's coffers. Other politicians before Tweed took advantage of this vulnerability. In fact, many New Yorkers bitterly accepted that graft was a way of life. Mandelbaum goes to great pains to explain, however, that it was the degree to which Tweed took advantage of these weaknesses that set him apart from other thieves. But the more interesting aspect of BOSS TWEED'S NEW YORK is the discussion of Tweed's downfall. There was much more to it than Nast's wonderful cartoons or the informant's testimony. Again, as the title explains, it was New York itself--it's changing immigrant make-up, the proliferation of the press, and the compression of communication between political wards--that accelerated his decline.

The point is that the real subject of this book is New York City during and just after the Civil War years. It is a provocative and surprising account of the metropolis under unprecedented changes and pressures. Changes and pressures that came so quickly that the mighty Tweed could not keep up with them.

And this has been a gross minimalization of Mr. Mandelbaum's thesis. Read it for yourself. You will find it an invaluable addition to your collection of books on political or New York history.

Rocco Dormarunno, author of The Five Points

This is a most exellent book. I had a report due and it saved me from certain failure. *~Peace~*

This book confounded and amazed me. James Duane Bolin is a truly brilliant author, and based on the acknowledgements of the book, I can tell he has a wonderful family, particularly his son, Wesley. If you have a hunkerin' for great literature, this is it. Think Tolstoy and Dickens all rolled together, except at least twice as better. Make a good choice. BUY THIS BOOK FOR YOURSELF, AND BUY IT FOR ALL OF THE PEOPLE YOU ARE ON A FIRST NAME BASIS WITH!!!! MAKES A GREAT STOCKING STUFFER!!!!

In style and substance, James Duane Bolin's book represents a superb contribution to southern history--and to American history generally for that matter. Among other salient contributions, his book helps clarify the existence of a far more complex, nuanced southern history. Specifically, his closely, deeply researched study effectively introduces and explicates the significance of the South's urban past. Into the larger history of the city of Lexington, Kentucky, Bolin weaves the compelling story of Lexington's boss, Billy "King" Klair. As he skillfully traces the life and career of this remarkable, fascinating--and unlikely-- southern politician, Bolin draws the reader into the highly variegated cultural, political, and social history of the South in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

I grew up in Boston in the 40's and 50's, Roxbury actually. I left in 1959 when I was 19. I view it as having escaped. The neighborhood was virtually all Irish Catholic.

My parents, while not active in party politics were very politically conscious. There political philosophy was quite simple. Roosevelt's Democrats walked on water; the Republicans were for the rich and against the poor (we, of course, were poor). To this day, over 43 years after leaving their house, I have a bit of trouble pulling the lever for a Republican candidate.

As I grew older I realized that their philosophy, which was generally shared by all in the neighborhood, created problems such as complacency and corruption. In our neighborhood the Boston police from Station # 9 made no effort to conceal what they were doing while they picked up their payoffs from the many bookie joints along Dudley Street. Whenever the state investigated a corrupt official or the very corrupt Boston Police Dept. my mother would say that it was just the Republicans taking their revenge on good Irish Catholics. Somehow she always knew that these good Irish Catholics went to mass every morning. The corruption and incompetence in front of her made no difference in her thinking.

Professor O'Connor's book helped me understand how my parents came to develop these political attitudes. Much of what he talked about still existed in the Boston Irish neighborhoods while I was growing up. I suspect to some extent it still does. I just finished reading "All Souls: A Family Story From Southie" by Michael Patrick McDonald. This is a very sad story which shows just how much the Irish Catholic's in South Boston have allowed their communities to degrade and allowed themselves to be snowed by their own Irish Catholic politicians.

If you have any interest in Boston political history or Irish American history you will love this book. I'm sure that the history of the Irish in Boston is similar to the Irish in most major US cities.

From their persecution and famine in their homeland, to their struggles at survival in America, this book traces the history of Boston's largest and most vocal inhabitants. O'Connor does a remarkable job in tracing the numerous stuggles the Boston Irish faced, and how it shaped their attitudes today. The book is loaded with anecdotes and tales from of Boston more famous characters: from James Michael Curley to Bill Flynn. The book, by detailing the Irish political machines at the turn of the century, provides us with the mindset that has controlled Boston politics for over a century. Entertaining throughout, it is scary how much about Boston and its politics one can learn.

This is a superb book. It is scholarly yet passionate, courageous yet level-headed. The book argues that the Solidarity labor movement in Poland in 1980-81 was created by workers of the Gdansk shipyards rather than by Warsaw and Krakow intellectuals. However, the intellectuals supplied self-serving interpretations of Solidarity, and these were accepted as fact. Goodwyn shows that ever since the failed bread strikes in 1956, 1970, and 1976, the workers of Poland continued to devise methods by which to oppose the communist regime. In 1980, they succeeded: the so-called "occupational strike" in the shipyards made it impossible for the police to disperse the workers, while a system of human couriers allowed workers from various enterprises (as many as 370 factories, at the end of August 1980) to communicate when telephones were cut off by the communists. Finally, in August 1980, the workers presented to the government the centerpiece of all their demands: the demand for free labor unions. This was a move which the government of Soviet-occupied Poland did not expect. Polish intellectuals in Warsaw advised against it. The workers stood firm--and the government yielded. For a year, there was jubilation in Poland. But at Moscow's bidding, the Soviet-controlled government in Warsaw arrested thousands of Solidarity leaders in December 1981. For seven years, Poles lived under martial law. Under martial law, hundreds of people were tortured or "merely" beaten, thousands lost their lives because elementary medical help was impossible to obtain.
In later chapters, Goodwyn points out that it was "citizens' committees" and not the Solidarity labor union that produced delegates to the Round Table talks. Among the delegates, the intelligentsia members were overrepresented (195 out of some 240 delegates), while the workers who created Solidarity had a few dozen delegates. Since that time, the Warsaw intelligentsia was disproportionately credited with creating and aiding Solidarity, whereas worker activists slid into oblivion. The situation further worsened when factories began to close down because of restructuring, and millions of working men and women lost their jobs. The intelligentsia kept theirs: white collar workers were not much affected by restructuring of steel mills, shipyards, and cotton mills.
A magnificently lucid tome that provides real insights into the workings of democracy. If you are concerned with the erosion of democratic institutions in the United States, read this book.

As a student in Larry Goodwyn's social movements class, I have been reading this book to study his philosophy and methodology. It's incredibly interesting and enlightening, and sure to infuriate anyone with a vested interest in the convential wisdom about movement building in general and Solidarity in particular. I'd recommend it to anyone who can get their hands on a copy (& let me know if you can!)...